No thinners, thankfully. My cardiomyopathy (plain talk: congestive heart failure) specialist had me on one, Eliquis, for about three months a year ago. He was convinced that I had gone into A-fib, or atrial fibrillation, after having a traditional stethoscope listen. But my pacemaker (got one of those, too) interrogation said no, so I came off of it immediately. Spontaneous nosebleeds at midnight are a pain in the ass. How do I know?
Anyway, the heart is a specialized muscle, a pump that responds to sequential, electrochemical stimulation in order to take blood in, pass it through the lungs to pick up oxygen, and then pump it back out to supply the body and its need for oxygen. A normal heart has its points of stimulation, like spark plugs, in certain points within the cardiac muscle. But, being muscle, and not metal, your stimulation points can be moved, a little, or a lot, if the heart starts to get overworked, and the muscle of your heart starts to lose its ability to pump in correct sequence, with sufficient force.
Low blood pressure typically means that your system is down on its liquid level. Since they don't want me to go too high, or too low on BP, I take diuretic medication, to stimulate urination (I know that's tripping at least one trigger), as well as medications to alter the heart's pace and the nature of my blood chemistry as it affects cardiac function. Think of it as a bunch of add-on STP-type additives going in the tank. I'm also on fluid restrictions. If I told you what they were, you'd be shocked. Let's say that a six-pack, if I could still drink beer, would see me through about a day and a half of allowance. That doesn't leave much room for soup, let alone a second cup of coffee.
And, of course, I'm supposed to watch sodium, and then I'm supposed to balance fluid intake, sodium, and medications (since the diuretic amount can be changed) with my level of physical activity. Too much activity, I run too lean, and not enough, I don't run lean enough. Running too lean brings me to a lovely phenomenon called orthostatic hypotension. Call it the "spins." So, if I don't put my feet up enough, they and my lower legs swell. But if I run around too much, and I stay dry, my blood pressure sinks like a rock, which might drop me like a sack of shit. At this point I'm just about considering LT Dan "magic legs" so that my heart has less to worry about. Hell, I might even opt in for the RoboCop thigh holster.
As you can imagine, all this leaves me less than enthusiastic about running out to a town dump with my Keurig coffee maker and sending it to perdition. Nothing gets in the way of my morning cup.
Have yourselves a good day, fellers.
